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Pilot
The Pilot skill is used to operate craft that maneuver in 3 dimensions. Many vehicles like this will require special training or the pilot will suffer a -4 to -10 penalty. Sometimes it may even be impossible. Key Attribute: Dexterity Trained Only Check: Typical piloting tasks don’t require checks. Checks are required during combat, for special maneuvers, or in other extreme circumstances, or when the pilot wants to attempt something outside the normal parameters of the vehicle. When flying, the character can attempt simple maneuvers and stunts (actions in which the pilot attempts to do something complex very quickly or in a limited space). Each vehicle’s description includes a maneuver modifier that applies to Pilot checks made by the operator of the vehicle. Time A Pilot check is a move action. Jetpack Use Though using a jetpack would normally count as a simple addition of flying movement to a character, a character making use of a jetpack may attempt to use the Pilot skill to perform certain maneuvers peculiar to jetpacks. The character makes the Pilot check as a free action during his movement using the jetpack (or during another time specified by the maneuver) and his success or failure depends on the result of the check. If the character fails the required Pilot check, his movement is stopped at the midpoint of his move action, and he must land (or hover) in that position until next round. If a Pilot check made while using a jetpack fails by more than 5 points, the jetpack user must succeed at a second Pilot check (at the same DC as the original maneuver) or crash. A crashing character suffers 4d12 points of damage (the same amount of damage suffered in a Medium-sized vehicle collision with the ground) and is considered prone for the remainder of the round. The following maneuvers are a few examples of what a character using a jetpack may do with a Pilot Check: Blast Off: The blast off maneuver entails building up a fiery charge within the thrusters on a jetpack and then releasing it in one quick, forceful blast, bathing adjacent characters in searing flames. As an attack action, the character may prime the jetpack in order to use the blast off maneuver. The character then makes a Pilot check (DC 20) to release the primed energy and take a flying move action as normal. If successful, all individuals adjacent to the square from which the character blasted off must make a Reflex save (DC 15) or suffer 2d6 points of fire damage. Additionally, the operator of the jetpack does not provoke an attack of opportunity from any individual that fails this save. Bull Rush: Though similar to the standard bull rush action, this maneuver allows the character to use the force of his jetpack in order to greatly increase the distance a target is moved. During a standard bull rush attempt (mechanically the same as a bull rush on foot, though using the jetpack’s flight movement instead of ground speed), the jetpack operator may make a Pilot check (DC 20) to triple his Strength bonus for the purposes of determining the success of the bull rush. Loop: The operator of a jetpack can use the loop maneuver in order to get behind an adjacent opponent without exposing himself to attacks of opportunity. As a move action, the jetpack user may make a Pilot check (DC 25) in order to move one space behind an adjacent character; this movement must place the jetpack operator in a square that would normally flank an adjacent character from the operator’s original position. Moving in this manner does not provoke an attack of opportunity from the targeted adjacent character, though if this maneuver places the jetpack operator in another character’s threatened space, he provokes an attack of opportunity from that character. Zig-Zag: As a full-round action, the jetpack operator may dash around in a zig-zag pattern in order to deter any incoming attacks. By making a Pilot check (DC 25), the character may move his normal flight movement rate for a single move action, gaining a +4 dodge bonus to his Defense this round. The character may take no other actions this round, except free actions and any extra actions granted by feats, class abilities, or action points. Starship Checks Silent Running: The ship runs on minimal power and with almost no activity from the ship’s engines. This allows ships to appear as though they are merely pieces of space debris to sensor scans, fooling anyone hunting the ship using sensors. When a ship goes into silent running, almost all systems are powered down completely (see the Computer Use rolls above). This means the weapons, shields, and other non-essential systems will not function while under silent running conditions. Ships that are running silent may only have life support, sensors, and maneuvering thrusters active, or the silent running attempt fails. Once all ship systems have been powered down, the ship may only move short distances without being detected. The ship may move one square without being detected; attempting to move more than one square requires a Pilot check with a DC equal to 15, adding +5 to the DC for every square beyond the second that the Pilot attempts to move the ship through. While a ship is running silent, any attempts to scan the ship must first determine whether or not it is a ship or a piece of space debris. A scanning ship’s sensor operator must make a Computer Use check, opposed by the Pilot check of the pilot of the ship that is running silent. If the pilot succeeds, the scanning ship’s sensors simply pick up a piece of debris or an asteroid; if the sensor operator succeeds, the ship is detected and all normal actions using the sensor array may be made. Escape Grapple: Unless you have the Starship Operation feat (page 14), you take a –4 penalty on Pilot checks made to pilot a starship. The pilot of a starship can make a Pilot check to escape after being held or immobilized by another starship’s grapplers or tractor beam; see Grappling Systems for more information on grapplers and tractor beams. Special *A character can take 10 when making a Pilot check, but can’t take 20. *A character with the Vehicle Expert feat gets a +2 bonus on all Pilot checks. *There is no penalty for operating a general-purpose fixed-wing aircraft. Other types of aircraft (heavy aircraft, helicopters, jet fighters, and spacecraft) require the corresponding Aircraft Operation feat, or else the character takes a –4 penalty on Pilot checks. For modern-day (PL 5) spacecraft such as the space shuttle, the Aircraft Operation (spacecraft) is sufficient to negate the –4 penalty on Pilot checks; however, this feat cannot negate the penalty as it applies to PL 6 or higher spacecraft. Category:Skills